Close
Enter your
text here
Monthly Archives :

October 2021

Identifying Which Children with Nephrotic Syndrome Will Respond to Steroids
 Identifying Which Children with Nephrotic Syndrome Will Respond to Steroids 1024 683 Mary Bates, PhD
By: Mary Bates, PhD

New research identifies potential biomarkers in the plasma of children with steroid resistant nephrotic syndrome. Nephrotic syndrome is among the most common forms of kidney disease in children. Although glucocorticoids (i.e., steroids) are the primary treatment, approximately 10 to 20% of children with nephrotic syndrome present with or develop steroid resistance. This is only discovered…

Therapy With Double-Bright Natural Killer Cell Infusions Increases Response Rates Among Frail Patients With Acute Myeloid Leukemia
 Therapy With Double-Bright Natural Killer Cell Infusions Increases Response Rates Among Frail Patients With Acute Myeloid Leukemia 969 533 Jessica Nye, PhD
By: Jessica Nye, PhD
Illustration of NK Cells, T Cells, other immune cells floating across white background

A case series of 13 patients with relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) finds that a novel approach using repeated infusions of cultured natural killer (NK) cells increases overall and complete response rates. NK cells are lymphocytes – white blood cell components of the innate immune response – that have anti-leukemic properties. Although efforts to incorporate…

Repeated Injury to Stem Cells Could be a Significant Contributor to Chronic Lung Disease
 Repeated Injury to Stem Cells Could be a Significant Contributor to Chronic Lung Disease 1024 575 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller
Illustration of lungs on blue silhouette of upper chest on black background

A series of experiments shows that biological aging of tracheobronchial stem cells could drive the development of chronic lung disease. In a recent publication in STEM CELLS Translational Medicine (SCTM), researchers showed that repeated injury to epithelial cells in the airway caused biological aging of the stem cells located there. Tracheobronchial stem cells (TSCs) are…

Treating Intrauterine Opioid Exposure in Infants Born Preterm
 Treating Intrauterine Opioid Exposure in Infants Born Preterm 1024 575 Deborah L. Ungerleider, MD, FAAP
By: Deborah L. Ungerleider, MD, FAAP

We need a protocol to evaluate and treat neonatal abstinence syndrome in preterm infants. Neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) occurs when infants who are exposed to opioids in utero develop withdrawal signs and symptoms after birth.1 According to past studies, NAS occurs in 55% to 94% of infants exposed to opioids, with an increasing incidence between…

A Patient-Centered Medical Home for Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease
 A Patient-Centered Medical Home for Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease 1024 683 Mary Bates, PhD
By: Mary Bates, PhD

The Center for Pediatric and Adolescent IBD serves as a case study for comprehensive, multidisciplinary care. In a new paper published in Inflammatory Bowel Disease, researchers from Nationwide Children’s describe the multidisciplinary care model at the Center for Pediatric and Adolescent Inflammatory Bowel Disease as an example of a pediatric specialty medical home. The researchers…

Standardizing Training in Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care
 Standardizing Training in Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care 150 150 Mary Bates, PhD
By: Mary Bates, PhD

In a new report, a taskforce of experts presented their recommendations to standardize training in pediatric cardiac critical care. The authors hope the report is a first step toward more oversight of training and certification in the field. The field of pediatric cardiac critical care is relatively young but growing quickly. Currently, there are 120…

Validity of the WISC-V Intelligence Testing in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder
 Validity of the WISC-V Intelligence Testing in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder 1024 575 Mary Bates, PhD
By: Mary Bates, PhD

Evaluating thinking and reasoning abilities for children with autism using conventional intelligence tests can be done, but with some caution. The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fifth Edition (WISC-V) is one of the most widely used intelligence tests for children. However, little is known about the validity of this test in children with autism spectrum…

Codetection of Respiratory Bacteria in Infants With RSV Infection Associated With Worse Outcomes
 Codetection of Respiratory Bacteria in Infants With RSV Infection Associated With Worse Outcomes 1024 575 Lauren Dembeck
By: Lauren Dembeck
Color photo of Black father holding infant on shoulder in front of nursery background with clouds on the wall

The interaction between the bacteria and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) appears to be synergistic. Researchers are now working to understand the underlying biological mechanisms. Researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital have discovered that codetection of Haemophilus influenzae and Streptococcus pneumoniae in the upper respiratory tract of previously healthy infants with RSV infection was independently associated with…

Building Momentum for School-Based Health Care
 Building Momentum for School-Based Health Care 150 150 Mary Kay Irwin, EdD
By: Mary Kay Irwin, EdD

Pediatric health care and the United States educational system share similar goals, even if they don’t quite use the same words to describe them. Health care professionals often say they want optimal wellness for children, so they can thrive throughout their lives. Schools want optimal learning opportunities to prepare children to be successful, productive, happy…

Additional Ventures: Investing in Congenital Heart Disease Research to Advance Care
 Additional Ventures: Investing in Congenital Heart Disease Research to Advance Care 150 150 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

Additional Ventures is a purpose-driven nonprofit that has developed the Single Ventricle Research Fund (SVRF), an annual research award program dedicated to accelerating research and improving care for people with single ventricle heart defects. The fund supports investigators through multi-year, high-impact grants focused on different elements in their carefully structured research roadmap. By funding investigators…

How Patient-Derived Stem Cells are Changing the Trajectory of Congenital Heart Disease Research
 How Patient-Derived Stem Cells are Changing the Trajectory of Congenital Heart Disease Research 1024 683 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

Small blood samples — and the patient-specific, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) they enable — turn into valuable research material for understanding congenital cardiovascular disorders, especially when united with modern genome sequencing and editing, animal models and three dimensional tissue growth technologies. Patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) have a significant downside for studying most…

Teens on the Road: How Technology, Policy and Parents Influence Driving Safety
 Teens on the Road: How Technology, Policy and Parents Influence Driving Safety 1024 633 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

Traffic crashes are a leading cause of death in the United States. For teens, the stakes are especially high.

Microsurgery for Acute Flaccid Myelitis: Personalized Approach Leads to Remarkable Recoveries
 Microsurgery for Acute Flaccid Myelitis: Personalized Approach Leads to Remarkable Recoveries 1024 440 Lauren Dembeck
By: Lauren Dembeck

Children from around the world are coming to Nationwide Children’s for specialized care for AFM with lower extremity involvement. Dr. Amy Moore invented many of the procedures that are leading to remarkable recoveries for these patients. After an ordinary cold, most people continue with life as usual; however, in some rare cases, a previously healthy…

Reconsidering Screening in Primary Care
 Reconsidering Screening in Primary Care 1024 683 Jeb Phillips
By: Jeb Phillips
2021 Bright Futures/AAP Recommendations for Preventive Pediatric Health Care (Periodicity Schedule) in color showing all of the screenings recommended across 34 patient visits through a patient's twenty-second birthday

Screenings are an important part of preventive care, but the growing list of recommendations is daunting. How do we prioritize the limited time we have with patients and families? There are 32 well-child primary care visits recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics in its Bright Futures “Periodicity Schedule.” The first is prenatal, the last…

Learning in Real Time to Overcome COVID-19 and MIS-C
 Learning in Real Time to Overcome COVID-19 and MIS-C 1024 491 Natalie Wilson
By: Natalie Wilson
Illustrations of clock faces at different times and angles

When multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) emerged in May 2020, the new condition made headlines. Although rare, MIS-C can appear in kids about a month after they’ve recovered from infections with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 — even if they haven’t felt sick at all. “We don’t know why some children develop MIS-C,”…

Lubiprostone Found to be Safe, as Effective as Placebo in Children With Constipation
 Lubiprostone Found to be Safe, as Effective as Placebo in Children With Constipation 1024 680 Mary Bates, PhD
By: Mary Bates, PhD
Close up color photo of little boy holding hands on his belly

The medication, FDA-approved for adults, may benefit older pediatric patients with less of a behavioral component to their constipation. Pediatric functional constipation, though common, remains challenging to treat. Lubiprostone is a medication approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of constipation and irritable bowel syndrome with constipation in adults. In…

Distinct Transcriptional Regulatory Domain Identified in Ewing Sarcoma Fusion Protein
 Distinct Transcriptional Regulatory Domain Identified in Ewing Sarcoma Fusion Protein 1024 1024 Lauren Dembeck
By: Lauren Dembeck
Illustration of split DNA - Single strand ribonucleic acid

A better understanding of a newly defined region in the fusion protein that causes Ewing sarcoma may lead to novel approaches for therapeutic targeting. Ewing sarcoma is an aggressive pediatric bone cancer defined by the presence of a single genetic abnormality: a chromosomal translocation. The translocation splits two genes and joins them abnormally, creating a…

Impulsivity, Not Inattention, Predicts Externalizing Disorders
 Impulsivity, Not Inattention, Predicts Externalizing Disorders 1024 683 Natalie Wilson
By: Natalie Wilson
Black and white image of five smiling kids/adolescents

Without early intervention, children with hyperactive-impulsive symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder may be vulnerable to developing other externalizing behavior disorders. Contributing to a small but growing body of litera­ture evaluating trait impulsivity theory, a team of researchers led by Mary A. Fristad, PhD, ABPP, director of Academic Affairs and Research Development in the Division of Child…

Risk for Serious Complications From Vaccine-Preventable Infections After Hematopoietic Cell Transplant
 Risk for Serious Complications From Vaccine-Preventable Infections After Hematopoietic Cell Transplant 1024 683 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

Clinician-scientists reveal the burden of vaccine-preventable infections among children post-transplant, when immunity is low and risk is high. When a hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) recipient at Nationwide Children’s Hospital was diagnosed with a vaccine-preventable infection (VPI), treating clinicians decided to evaluate the burden of VPI in HCT patients at Nationwide Children’s and elsewhere. The team…

How Policy Can Influence Distracted Driving
 How Policy Can Influence Distracted Driving 150 150 Laura Dattner
By: Laura Dattner

To combat the risks of using a cellphone while driving, states have implemented a variety of laws. As of July 2021, 21 of 50 states have implemented comprehensive hands-free cellphone laws (i.e., comprehensive handheld cellphone bans), which prohibit almost all handheld cellphone use including texting, calling and using apps. In addition, three states and the…

Kidney and Urinary Tract Protein Demonstrates Antimicrobial Activity
 Kidney and Urinary Tract Protein Demonstrates Antimicrobial Activity 1024 683 Lauren Dembeck
By: Lauren Dembeck

A little-studied peptide found in the urinary tract is a potential biomarker for urinary tract infection risk and could be developed into a novel therapeutic against drug-resistant bacteria.  Researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital have demonstrated that an understudied protein expressed in the human kidney and bladder kills the bacteria that cause urinary tract infections (UTI).…

Is Tracheostomy Tube Placement in Preemies Safe?
 Is Tracheostomy Tube Placement in Preemies Safe? 1024 575 Mary Bates, PhD
By: Mary Bates, PhD
Nurse caring for infant in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)

The procedure is safe and effective in newborns requiring high ventilator pressures. Tracheostomy tube placement is a common procedure performed for premature infants requiring respiratory assistance. Compared to an endotracheal tube, placement of a tracheostomy tube is thought to allow the infant more opportunities for comfort, interaction, nutrition and growth. However, rates of tracheostomy tube…

Featured Researcher — Rodney Britt, PhD
 Featured Researcher — Rodney Britt, PhD 150 150 Natalie Wilson
By: Natalie Wilson

Rodney D. Britt Jr., PhD, is a principal investigator in the Center for Perinatal Research at the Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and an assistant professor of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University. Dr. Britt earned his bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from North Carolina A&T State University and his doctorate degree in…